Nav Social Menu

One-Pan Asian Beef & Rice Skillet

Asian Beef & Rice Skillet is a quick & easy dinner recipe requiring a simple list of real ingredients, only one pan, and under 30 minutes from start to finish!

I’ve mentioned it before but, like any good child of the 80s, I ate my fair share of Hamburger Helper growing up (and I was actually quite fond of it). Now as a busy (read: tired) mama, I can certainly appreciate the convenience of it: brown some ground beef, throw a few boxed ingredients into the same pan, and voilà…about 20 minutes later, you’ve got a hot meal on the table. But seeing as how I strive to feed my family recipes made from real, unprocessed ingredients, the good ol’ smiling hand guy doesn’t exactly fit in with my style of meal planning.

Lucky for me, however, this doesn’t mean I can’t recreate the same type of quick, easy, one-pan dinners while using real, wholesome ingredients…and doing so honestly doesn’t take much longer than that dinner originating from a box. 😉

I’ve already shared my copycats for Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni, Lasagna, and Beef Taco varieties. But one of my favorite flavors of HH as a kid was called Rice Oriental. So that’s the one to which I’m paying homage with today’s recipe…except this One-Pan Asian Beef & Rice Skillet is made with fresh, natural ingredients, meaning it ends up tasting waaaaay better.

Making it, however, is just as straightforward. Start out by browning a pound of ground beef in a large pan or skillet. Stir in rice, beef broth, soy sauce, and a few seasonings. After about 10 minutes, mix in shredded carrots, and then just before the rice and carrots are tender, add some frozen peas.

That’s it, y’all! One pan. A handful of basic ingredients. Under 30 minutes. Protein + veggies + carbs. An all-in-one meal! I like to add a simple side salad to round things out and dinner…is…DONE!

So shoot it to me straight…do you have (or have you had in the past) a secret (or not-so-secret) affinity for Hamburger Helper? Whether your answer is yes or no, I think you will love this One-Pan Asian Beef & Rice Skillet.

It’s simple and yummy, popular with kids and adults alike, and made with ingredients that you likely already keep on hand. In fact, from the first time I cooked it, it secured a spot in our regular dinner rotation. That’s right, fellow children-of-the-80s, sing it with me…MAKES A GREAT MEAL! 😉

(Recipe video below to show just how quick and easy this recipe really is!)

One-Pain Asian Beef & Rice Skillet

One-Pan Asian Beef & Rice Skillet

Asian Beef & Rice Skillet is a quick and easy dinner recipe requiring a simple list of all-natural ingredients, only one pan, and under 30 minutes to make from start to finish!

Instructions

Set a large skillet, pan, pot, or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink, breaking apart and stirring as the meat cooks. Drain the grease from the pot; add the rice, beef broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic powder, and pepper, and stir well to combine. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, then stir and reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in shredded carrots and continue to cook for 5 to 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice and carrots are tender and the liquid is mostly absorbed. Stir in the thawed peas and cook for another minute until heated through.

Notes

If you don't have oyster sauce, you may omit it, but I always keep a bottle in my fridge because I think it adds great depth of flavor to Asian recipes. If you don't include it in this recipe, you might find that you need to stir in a bit more soy sauce (to taste) at the end of the cooking time.

To quickly thaw my frozen peas, I place them in a colander and run them under hot tap water for a minute.

When you bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer, make sure that the simmer is a simmer...not barely bubbling (or the rice won't cook and absorb the liquid) and not bubbling too fast (or the liquid may get absorbed too fast and the bottom may burn). For my stove, this was medium-low heat, adjusting up or down a tad as needed when I would stir every few minutes.

If too much liquid remains once your rice is cooked, you may remove the lid and turn up the heat for a minute or two, stirring so that it doesn't burn. If the liquid evaporates before the rice is done and everything starts to stick to the bottom, you may stir in a bit more broth or water.

Reader Interactions

***All comments are moderated and must be approved by the site owner before they
will display. Questions, positive reviews, and constructive criticism are welcomed. Condescending, ugly, or rude comments will be ignored and deleted.
Please treat others the way you wish to be treated...even from behind a keyboard.***

Comments

Just made this – Chinese New Year!! Will be giving to our missionaries tomorrow. They love love love all your awesome recipes!!! I had a taste – ha ha , and it’s yum!!! Thank you for your good stuff Samantha!!

It’s funny that this turned out to be a remake of Hamburger Helper. When I saw the photo on Pinterest I thought, “Why does that look vaguely familiar?” Then I read your post and it all made sense! Cooking it as I type, I am sure it’s going to be delicious!

Very tasty! I am very new to eating meat, so I’m looking for simple, fool-proof dishes. I modified the recipe by cooking the rice separately, cooking the beef with onions, and serving the beef mixture on top of the rice. It was a hit!

I think you could definitely make this recipe with brown rice, but you’d have to cook it for the amount of time directed on the package of rice (usually about twice as long as white rice). And a longer cooking time would definitely require additional liquid, but I’m not sure exactly how much as I haven’t tried this substitution. Please let us know how it turns out if you decide to experiment! 🙂

I have made this twice now. The 1st time exactly as written, it was so good!! The 2nd time i added an extra tbs both soy and Oyster sauce and seasoning the beef while browning with a little garlic powder and a couple shakes of Maggis Asian seasoning. It pushed this dish into overdrive!! My family ate the whole pot! Thanks for a super easy and tasty recipe!!!

This recipe came across my google feed today, so I had supper for tonight. I never had Asian beef HH before. I made it using brown jasmine rice. I did cook it a bit longer, but didn’t add any additional liquid. Thank you for sharing.

Primary Sidebar

Search this website

Hi, I’m Samantha . . .

a busy wife and tired mama of two energetic boys and a sweet little girl living in Texas. I love cooking, writing, eating queso, watching college football, and taking way too many pics of my kids. In my “spare” time, I run this food blog and I wrote a cookbook. The days are crazy but the love is plenty between the five hearts that make up our home! (click for more)